Staff Working Agenda
“Making Clubs Welcoming”
4-H Club Leader Training
Fall 2006
Time: 2.5 Hours (not including pre-meeting activities for early arrivals)
Room Set Up: Remember to “think welcoming” and set the room up in a way
that’s inviting and conducive to group interaction.
 Use “Welcome, We’re Glad You’re Here” signs on building and/or room
entrance. (Can also print off these signs and include in kits Club Leaders
receive.)
 Can have PowerPoint slide/white board/flip chart welcoming participants.
 Coffee and water are good things to have available throughout the training.
 Placing greeters (you and/or a PC, youth or adult volunteers) at the room
entrance is another nice touch.
 Make sure everyone has a nametag and be intentional about using people’s
names throughout the training. (see nametag template)
 A pre-meeting activity could be on each table with brief instructions or
different stations could be set up around the room.
 Wrapped candy, chocolate, or fruit, pitcher of water, etc. could be on tables.
Equipment & Materials:
 Nametags
 Signs welcoming participants
 Flip chart paper
 Markers, pencils or pens, and tape
 Notepads or post-it notes for leaders to write down thoughts
 Ball or other equipment and materials needed for reflection activity
 Copies: Agenda, Welcoming Environments Scenarios, Welcoming
Environments Club Survey, Barnga or Green Wall Activity, Evaluation
 Welcoming Environments Toolkit for each Club which includes:
Introduction, Welcoming & Exclusion Awareness Activities for Clubs,
Welcoming Environment Club Checklist, 4-H Family Handbook
Pre-Meeting Activity: Be ready early so as people arrive you can engage them in
a pre-meeting activity (pick one from Making Clubs Fun Training Packet).
5 Min
Welcome and Opening Remarks (Why We’re Here, etc.)
“Welcome to today’s training session “Making Clubs Welcoming”.
This is the third in our MN 4-H Statewide Leader training series. In
2004, over 95% of the 4-H Clubs in our state had volunteer leaders
participate in “Making Clubs Better”. For those of you who are new
to your leadership role and did not receive that training, it is now
available as an on-line course. Last year’s training entitled “Making
Clubs Fun” also enjoyed 95% participation statewide. If you have not
received these two previous trainings, please visit with me during a
break or after today’s training so we can ensure you receive the
materials and resources you need to be effective in your important
role as a 4-H Club Leader.”
“For those who may not know me, my name is______ and I’m the
Regional Extension Educator providing leadership to the 4-H Youth
Development Program in _____counties. I am fortunate to work with
a talented and dedicated team of County 4-H Program
Coordinators/Director. I truly appreciate the work that ______does to
offer a quality 4-H experiences to young people here in
_____County.”
“We really want you to know how excited and appreciative we are
that you have agreed to take on this important role as a 4-H Leader.
For some of you, this is a new experience while others have served in
this role before. Irregardless of your tenure as a 4-H Leader, whether
youth or adult, whether in 4-H as kid or totally new to the program…
each and every one of you brings a unique and WELCOME
perspective and talent set which we hope you will share in today’s
discussions and activities.”
“We hope that when you arrived here today and were greeted at the
door, you sincerely felt welcome and appreciated for the vital role you
have chosen to play in the lives of young people and families in your
club, this county, and our state and national 4-H Youth Development
Program.”
“As you know, increasing membership in our 4-H Club program, or
“Growing Green”, is a major priority in _______County, as well as
statewide. Recruiting and keeping 4-H members and volunteers is
essential to the quality and future of the 4-H program. All the
recruitment in the world can’t help us if potential new and existing
members and volunteers do not have a positive experience at a club or
county meeting or event. To ensure this happens all of us members,
leaders, parents, volunteers and staff need to be intentional about
creating environments in which all feel welcome and important.”
Our Goals for today’s training are for all of us to leave here with:
1. A greater awareness of what a welcoming environment looks like.
2. A clearer picture of what your club does and/or does not do to
Create a welcoming environment
3. Ideas, tools and resources to help you develop and implement a
plan to create a more welcoming environment in your club.
4. A renewed commitment to ensuring that members, parents and
volunteers in your club feel valued, important, accepted and
welcome for who they are.
15-Min
Introductory Activity (Have You Always Felt Welcome?)
Ask participants to share a time, recently or in the past, when they felt
either really welcome in a new or unfamiliar place or situation OR
really unwelcome or uncomfortable. You might start by sharing your
own response to the question.
Process: Ask participants to share their name, club affiliation and
their experience (briefly). Or have people pair up and share and then
introduce their partner to the group and share their partner’s story.
10 Min
What is a “Welcoming Environment”? (Research Says)
Creating a welcoming environment is basic to 4-H 8 Keys to Quality
Youth Development. A welcoming environment creates an
atmosphere where youth feel they are safe and that they are cared for
as an individual. A welcoming environment is also one where young
people feel like they belong, they are accepted as part of the
group…not only recognized when they are present, but missed when
they are absent. Let’s take a closer look at what a “welcoming
environment” may mean:
o Physical Environment: What surrounds the club meeting or
event; does it feel warm and inviting; does it represent young
people; is it comfortable; is it free of obstruction and hazard?
o Psychological Environment: Is the psychological environment
safe; supportive and conducive to participation; do youth and
adults feel they are valued and respected; is the environment
free of name calling and bullying?
o Social Environment: Are the meetings filled with inviting,
friendly personal interactions among volunteers, youth, parents
and visitors; are the visitors intentionally drawn into the
conversation; are opinions and view points of new families and
visitors solicited?
o Organizational Environment: What are the written and
unwritten policies and practices of the organization; is the
program so cumbersome that new families get lost along the
way; is there a mentoring system so experienced youth and
adults can help show the way and alleviate ambiguity?
35 minutes Barnga Tournament (A Pleasant and Relaxing Game)
If group is small (fewer than 10) use the Green Wall Activity.
10 Min
Break (Refreshments and Fellowship)
15 Min
What Would You Do” (Welcoming Environment Scenarios)
Hand out the Welcoming Environments Scenarios. Have participants
work in groups of 2-3, assigning each group one of the scenarios to
discuss. Tell them that they will have 5 minutes to discuss and then
all will be asked to share their scenario and suggestions for creating a
more welcoming situation with the larger group.
Or, if you don’t want a lot of paper and would prefer the group to
focus on two or three scenarios, put a few on PowerPoint slides and
project them up for all to see and discuss.
Read We’re Lost In 4-H, an actual email message from a new 4-H
parent, and discuss what contributed to the frustration of this new
family and how it could have been handled differently so they felt
included, welcome and important.
10 Min
How Welcoming is Your Club? (Take the Survey)
Say: “This next activity will challenge you to think about your own
4-H Club or group and how intentional you are with efforts to ensure
an environment at meetings, events and activities is inviting,
accessible, supportive and welcoming to all.”
Ask participants to share some things they do well and others they feel
a need to work on. Invite them to use the survey (a copy is included
in the Creating a Welcoming Environment Tool Kit for Clubs) with
members and/or leaders at an upcoming club meeting.
10-15 Min Grab Your Tool Kit (Stuff to Use with Your Club)
Distribute Toolkit and review contents with the group.
15-20 Min. Group Sharing (Learning from Our Collective Wisdom)
Prior to training, ask a few leaders and/or other individuals from the
community who are known to be skilled at making others feel
welcome, to share ideas that have worked well for them or things they
have seen or experienced in their work and/or community life that
have impressed them as great ways to create welcoming
environments. Possible community resources are representatives from
the local Chamber of Commerce, churches, civic organizations, etc.
OR at break time, ask leaders to briefly write down and drop in a
suggestion box or hang on an idea tree some of the ways they try to
make people feel welcome, or ideas that have worked for others.
Then share their ideas with the whole group, allowing them to expand
on or clarify what they have shared.
10 Min.
Say Something Nice (Reflecting On Our Time Together)
Use the Ball Toss activity. (Club Management Guide Toolkit)
Toss ball around circle asking participants to respond with a
“welcoming comment or phrase” when they catch the ball and share
something they learned and/or plan to implement in their club. Or
utilize a reflection activity of your choice.
10 Min.
Before You Leave (Announcements, Parting Thoughts & Evaluation)
o Announcements and possible Club Leader updates
o Use this time to share county specific information
o Evaluation and inspirational comments
Developed by:
Brenda Shafer, Area Program Leader, 4-H Youth Development, University of Minnesota Extension Service